Zoey Is Too Drunk for This Dystopia (Zoey Ashe, #3) by Jason Pargin

Zoey Is Too Drunk for This Dystopia (Zoey Ashe, #3) Reviews

• 
  Ric

  Jason Pargin’s writing style and humor just makes me laugh out loud like very few other books do, and this was my favorite in the Zoey Ashe series so far. Because while I loved the political intrigue angle of it, write in votes going to “Aviv’s Flying Severed Dingus” made me laugh so hard that I had to put down the book for a minute. And that’s why I love these (and the JDatE books) so much, it mixes actual story with truly incredible nonsense in the best possible way. It’s clever and stupid at the same time in a way that only Jason Pargin can pull off.
  
  (Also, the title is incredible and basically describes my 2020 to a t)
• 
  Michael Tkach (Horror Gardener)

  Somebody come collect your girl. She keeps asking for people to show her pictures of their pet cats and spilling her drinks everywhere.
  
  *update*
  I received an ARC for this book ( Thank you) but I am unable to figure out how to get it to work on my KOBO so I'm not sure if this book is even a real book or if I have thrown my pre-order money into the void in hopes of a return.
  
  Either wayn Jason Pargin is very nice and kinda handsome from certain angles and all his other books have been fun so why not jump into this one!
• 
  Megan

  Well, this was fucking brilliant. I absolutely loved it and I'm not even mad it devastated me (that's a lie and I lived in denial for at least a few hours after reading a certain page). How is Jason Pargin so good at this?? I'm honestly in awe every time I read one of these books and see how incredibly well-plotted they are.
  
  Cannot wait for another installment in this series! (I HOPE. I HAVEN'T ACTUALLY CHECKED YET. I NEED MORE!)
  
  PS: The cover is absolutely stunning, and I adore all the details you only get after reading the actual book.
  ******
  before it was published:
  
  Dude, I am hyped! I've been waiting for another Zoey book and this title is already so freaking promising.
  ******
• 
  Miss✧Pickypants 〳 ° ▾ ° 〵 ᓚᘏᗢ

  Disclosure: Received an Uncorrected Digital Galley of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press (Thank you!) in exchange for an honest review.
  
  Huzzah! Zoey Ashe and the Suits are back for a third time! This is now my favorite installment of the series. Don't be sad that it won't be out for a few more months, this gives you time to go read the prior two novels, both of which are also 5 star reads in my book (but if you are a procrastinator like me and don't get around to those first two by the time this one is released, no worries, you need not have read them to enjoy this one as a stand alone (and then you can go read the first two at your leisure)).
  
  Why do I love this book? The madcap futuristic storyline, the interesting characters, the silliness, augmented vigilantes and villains, outrageous architecture, the fun, the embedded social commentary that makes you think, and of course the writing, which is pretty darn entertaining/masterful.
  
  In this delightful novel Zoey is still living in Tabula Ra$a (think of a futuristic Las Vegas on steroids) and is still working with Will, Echo, Andre and Bud (The Suits) to manage the massive enterprise she inherited from her father. There's a music festival, a mayoral race, absurd pranks, a crime that needs solving and a second pet cat. I cannot say more without spoiling the plot, so I won't.
  
  What I will say is
  Jason Pargin PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO WRITE MORE ZOEY ASHE BOOKS!! and I am so very, very, very curious to see how the series is going to be adapted for TV (please don't let the tv people f*ck it up).
• 
  Dona

  What was good was very very good, but what was bad was horrid.
  
  Review to come.
• 
  Betty

  *Note: I received an unedited advanced reader copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review. This review is subject to change upon the final release of this title**
  
  Jason Pargin has a unique talent for writing silly and seemingly disconnected plot points before tying them together with a nice bow which magically reveals itself to be a nuanced discussion on just about any facet of the human experience: socioeconomics, religion, mental health, it appears no subject is too large or too small for him to tackle. “Zoe is too drunk for this Dystopia” is no exception.
  
  My only gripe (and the reason this isn’t a five star title for me) is that the reveal seemed to come too soon. I was immediately transported to a place where the overarching “theme” of the book kicked off in a less subtle way as early as the first chapter. Due to the plot, that might have been unavoidable, but I couldn’t help but say to myself right away “oh this book is going to be a take on x, y, and z,” and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it did slow my reading of the first half of the book. I wanted more action, more intrigue, more stupid stuff to be honest, before diving into something more serious. These things existed, but it seemed they were spliced into a surprisingly straightforward story for Pargin almost as an afterthought, and that didn’t scratch the same itch for me that his other books have.
  
  Once I got to the second half of the book, things picked up exponentially, and I was able to speed through it much faster and with urgency, needing to know what would happen next. And, as I mentioned before, the book is still full of laugh out loud moments (a pooping, pistol wielding cowboy stands out as a highlight) as well as several well-thought-out takes on life’s problems which certainly got me thinking.
  
  I plan to continue reading anything and everything Jason Pargin publishes, including more installments of this series.
• 
  Mike Futcher

  "It was a now-familiar sensation… starving while wanting nothing on the menu." (pg. 150)
  
  In my previous reviews I've expressed my lukewarm feelings about the Zoey Ashe series, but Zoey is Too Drunk for This Dystopia, the third (and hopefully final) instalment was the first occasion in these books where I actually felt bored. The first two books had at least brief glimpses of the author's talent, shown vividly in his other, far superior series (the John Dies at the End books), and though such glimpses didn't justify their books' ponderous length, they at least had things to keep you going. But in this third book, author Jason Pargin, having now completely abandoned his successful David Wong pseudonym, has seemingly left behind much of what made his writing interesting too.
  
  If you can struggle to the half-way point of Zoey is Too Drunk, things begin to happen. Not especially interesting things, but the book does become leaner in its second half, not least because we actually begin to figure out what is happening. In the first half, it's not clear what the plot is, what Zoey and the Suits are doing, or why we should care. There's a disturbing serial-killer plot which feels out-of-place, and an aimless, hyper procession of scenes (including a tedious election campaign for mayor) seasoned with the usual glut of Tabula Ra$a gaudiness. The villain – a candidate for mayor who wants to clean up the town – would convince as an antagonist if it wasn't for the fact that he is clearly just a straw man for Christian law-and-order conservatives (who the author paints as "fascists"), or the inconvenient fact that the depraved and predatory city of Tabula Ra$a seems in dire need of such a leader. There is a deluge of clunky polemical dialogue shoehorned in – stuff the author finds interesting, but with none of the finesse or judiciousness of previous Wong books. Here, we pass from one pop-lecture to another, like one of the author's old Cracked.com listicles. It feels like a book caught in the trap of the low-attention-span, social-media-scrolling generation.
  
  Ultimately, Zoey is Too Drunk for This Dystopia is the natural culmination of a series that has, from the start, failed to spark. The transition of our main characters from menacing crime-lords to wise-cracking scrappers never convinced when it was attempted in the first book, Futuristic Violence & Fancy Suits, and the concept's been doomed ever since. These are uber-rich, ruthless people, yet Pargin has always attempted to channel us towards rooting for them as though they are underdogs. Zoey herself is a dull, low-energy heiress and has never been a likeable character, which makes the author's persistence with her rather forced. The characterisation in general remains off, so much so that the death of one character apparently devastates the rest, but all the reader thinks is "Who? Oh, that guy." The author seems to have abandoned any attempt to consistently bring humour to the series, and while the humour misfired in the previous books (which had a cruder tone than the meta-comedy of the John Dies at the End series) it had at least been welcome.
  
  But the worst thing about the failure of the Zoey Ashe series is that it means one can level at Pargin/Wong an unfortunate charge. Considering he wrote some of my favourite books (the John Dies at the End series) it's not with any pleasure that I say that, in each of these Zoey books, he seems insincere. The Zoey series reads like something conceived in a marketing department to hit a certain demographic: YA-tinged millennial feelgood adventure, with cats, hugs, social justice and a petty misandry. The book leans so hard onto this man-hating, women-are-oppressed mindset – so popular nowadays – that when one male character, bloodied, crippled and near-death, has a moment of clarity and urges Zoey to flee and save herself, his noble self-sacrifice (he is sworn to protect her) is insulted when Zoey instead opts to lecture him on "how men let their emotions get away from them in situations like this" (pg. 348). It's a cheap attempt to subvert the cliché that women are the emotional ones, and is done solely to push some "Ugh, toxic masculinity, amirite?" buttons. From a writer in the millennial, pop-feminist milieu it would be irritating enough; from a male writer in his forties, it just seems cynical. While Zoey is Too Drunk is not a "bad" book as such, in that it remains continent despite its rumbling bowels, it's not a success either. One can only hope that Pargin/Wong recognises this – perhaps one of his pop-lecture riffs with the topic of the 'sunk cost fallacy' could inspire him? – and returns to his other series, or births a new one, which would better express his significant talents.
• 
  Isaiah

  White author taking an Asian pseudonym (David Wong) then writing a bunch of racist "jokes" in the first book. If I had known about the author I never would have requested an ARC. So enjoy the review I guess.
  
  Why are white guys like this? When called on it, the author said he was "color blind" which is code word for refusing to understand racism while pretending to not be racist. The first book had so many racist jokes and ideas in the first fifty pages that it was ridiculous. This book may have less of that, but I doubt it.
  
  Even seen some stuff that says he is transphobic, specifically transmisogynistic. So this has been a great and unenjoyable afternoon of reading and learning. Sorry publisher for asking for this ARC, but also not sorry. Stop supporting dudes who do this shit.
• 
  Kim

  I laughed, I cried, I wanted a corn dog
• 
  McKenna

  I was provided with an ARC by the author in exchange for an honest review.
  
  Simply put, this books is *chef's kiss*
  
  The third in the Zoey Ashe series, we catch up with Zoey a few months after the point where book #2 ended (Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick). In Tabula Ra$a, a city in the near future, built on vice and freedom, Zoey has inherited her father's business (and crime) empire.
  
  Now, the current book is a standalone but I HIGHLY recommend you read the first two books to have a better appreciation of the characters and their development.
  
  The book starts a little slow, but quickly picks up and doesn't stop. The ending is left wide open for a future Zoey book...and let's hope we're that lucky!
  
  I'll admit, I initially did NOT like Zoey. But I think the reason for that is because she presents a mirror for how most women feel about their imperfections and place in the world. I wanted to scream, "stop putting yourself down!", but realized I do the same almost everyday.
  
  Her team of Suits grow on you. In the first book they seem like these ruthless hired lackeys...but their growth and change over the series, and especially in this book, make for an interesting and satisfying journey.
  
  I highly recommend Zoey is Too Drunk for This Dystopia. You'll laugh, you'll probably cry, and will frequently utter, "what the fuck?".
• 
  Read.Your.Bookshelf

  Zoey and the Suits have a lot on their plate: Public Relations tours of their new beef factory, the Catharsis Music Festival being held in the desert, and a Mayoral election that needs their influence if they don’t all want to end up in jail when it’s over. If Zoey has learned one thing in Tabula Ra$a it’s to expect the unexpected, but even that won’t prepare her for the next 96 hours.
  
  I love Pargin’s writing style. Every one of his books is a serious and heartfelt story about the human condition. They examine how we relate to each other in society with riveting insights and d!ck jokes. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Pargin has an irreverence that never belittles the subject matter, but reminds the reader that there is so much more going on in any given event, be that a music festival or a mayoral election.
  
  This book spends a lot of time talking about politics. It’s an honest look at which people want power, how those people get power and how a lot of systems get manipulated to maintain that power, but it didn’t leave me depressed. In a world where I have a hard time reading the news, this book gives me a place to think about those systems, but also laugh at the absurdity of some of them.
  
  For all the silliness in this book, I love the complexity of “The Suits.” I appreciate each of their perspectives as they try to help Zoey navigate what it is to be the CEO of a multibillion dollar enterprise that she was never prepared to take over. They are passionate and I appreciate each of their perspectives even if I don’t always agree. But that’s the point isn’t it?
  
  Even though this the third book in the Zoey Ashe series, it is self-contained and was written to help you get caught up if this is your first foray into Tabula Ra$a. So if you like your speculative fiction with a healthy dose of sarcasm, silliness, and introspection. I highly recommend Zoey Is Too Drunk For This Dystopia.
• 
  Jennifer

  The thing I found the most annoying was how he kept painting Zoey as so insecure and ultra-conscious about her appearance…he’s all like “hey, look at me, I’m empathizing with how it must feel to be an everyday young woman” when all that “woe is me” droning on combined with all the descriptions of female bodies just leans heavily into the stereotypes of “fat=unattractive” while “thin=attractive”. Dude, it’s the 2020s…I know plenty of women who are proud to be fat and rock their sexy selves with confidence. Also, surprise surprise, but maybe we’re doing more than just walking around all day concerned about our appearance? Why couldn’t we have some development with Zoey in that regard? 🙄
• 
  Jessica DiPiazza

  The beginning was a little slow so took some time to get really interested in the story. But once the author covers all the bases and gets into the good stuff it kept me interested. I won this book through the Goodreads Giveaways and am glad I did because otherwise I would never have given this book a try. #Goodreadsgiveaway Thank You for the free copy!
• 
  elder_millennialnitemar_reads (Ashley)

  DNF. Misogynistic, fat-phobic, and why they hell would I NOT want to finish?!? No, thank you.
• 
  Kade Gulluscio

  I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.
  
  This book is part of a series, so make sure you read the others first!
  
  If you've read the others, then you know these books are an interesting mix of genres. Dystopian with humor is never a bad combination.
  
  The characters are always absolutely amazing and hilarious, I pretty much love them all.
  and the worldbuilding? absolutely genius. I can't even put into words how great this book is.
• 
  Isobel

  the cover is pretty but I wish I’d read more of the synopsis/looked at the author bio before grabbing this book from the library. too much of it was just men talking about stuff. also felt like it brought up a lot of sociopolitical issues without doing a good job discussing them (which isn’t something that every book needs to do, imo, but if that’s going to be incorporated it ought to be incorporated well).
• 
  Pamela Carvalho

  I wanted to give this book 5 stars but I think the subject matter wasn’t for me, too political which made it hard for me to follow. But I did read it while I had the flu, so I blame my lack of focus on that. Zoey is such a relatable and lovable character. I love Pargins characters and his sense of humor.
• 
  J.E. Barnard

  The creative gore here is perfect for Halloween reading. And it’s kind of a killer crime novel too.
  You might not think from the opening pages that Zoey is going to become one of your favourite characters. But soon you will be rooting for her, and snickering at the snarky observations and quirky turns of phrase. You don’t have to read far before you realize that the author, being the former executive editor of cracked.com, has a wry and slightly demented sense of humor.
  
  This futuristic supermall-slash-Vegas version of Utah has hypercharged crooked capitalism at its core, and thanks to her dead father, Zoey owns a large chunk of it. Anytime there’s wealth derived from shady/crooked origins, there are enemies. And Zoey's are a special breed of determined/crazy.
  
  This book is a sequel to Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick (2020), which followed Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits. Those two were written by the same author under the name David Wong.
  
  Apart from a tendency of the various characters to digress into brief polemics about the inevitability of corruption and predictably existentialist views of modern society, the book is entertaining for anyone who loves wordplay and unexpected situational comedy. It will appeal to mystery lovers who like their humour zany, and to many people who loved Mad Magazine and Cracked in their youth. And possibly to anyone who enjoys The Murderbot Diaries.
  
  You don’t need to have read the previous two books in order to enjoy this one, but you will probably want to go back after you’ve lived in Zoe‘s world for this extremely eccentric adventure.
• 
  Mary

  I was thrilled to receive an unedited ARC of "Zoey" via Goodreads, as I am a huge fan of Jason Pargin.
  
  Set in Tabula Ra$a, a sort of futuristic Vegas that feels like the absurd, but logical conclusion to the path America is currently forging, Ashe and her team must take on modified supervillains, fake news, prevent a right-wing fascist from assuming office, all the while tracking down the "Sex Butcher" and his missing victims. If that sounds a little too much like real life, that's because we are currently living in a dystopian hellscape. This book is definitely the darkest of the series, and the correlations to modern society are quite clear, but there is still plenty of absurdity and humor. All in all, a great addition to the series.
• 
  Tonya Russell

  This was ARC that won in a Goodreads giveaway (Yay!).
  First, let me say that this is not the type of book that I usually read; however, I am an avid reader and always excited to read new things. I am so glad I gave this book a chance.
  It was so much fun! First, the title is hilarious (as are the other titles by Jason Pargin) and the book surprisingly had a lot of incidents where life lessons were pondered.
  Zoey Ashe was a great character, I loved how honest and unfiltered she was and how she approached each situation. Very hard to give a synopsis for this book because it's pretty out there (in a good way!) I believe it will be for sale in October 2023 and it is worth reading.
  Now, I will read other titles by Jason Pargin too...before this book I probably would have passed them up since not my regular genres.
• 
  Trevor Nicholson

  Man, these books just keep getting better. Jason Pargin is one of the most interesting minds of our time. I really enjoyed this book and there were more than a few passages that felt monumental.
  
  The Lazarus passage is truly one of the most gut-wrenching things I’ve ever read. A point of view I have never heard expressed that genuinely took my breath away.
  
  Another wonderful novel from the world’s most reluctant TikTok star.
• 
  Andrew Johnson

  “Zoey is Too Drunk for This Dystopia” by Jason Pargin is the third in his Zoey Ashe series, preceded by “Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits” and “Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick.” You can gather from the titles alone that it’s a pretty wild series.
  
  I rarely take notes while reading simply because I want my opinions to be free to form and change as I imbibe the work, but since this is my third go-around in Pargin’s futuristic dystopia I couldn’t help myself from jotting down a few thoughts while I made my way through this book. Pargin is a very thoughtful individual who has some big ideas, but he usually reserves his commentary to a few key points that he’ll hone in on. Set in the hedonistic city Tabula Ra$a, a libertarian paradise where government is limited so capitalism can run wild, Pargin takes the opportunity to grind several axes at once. The rise of cancel culture, disinformation in the media, Trumpism, and the dangers of extremism, Pargin reflects the insanity of the real world inside his fictional one, processing how we got here as a society while at the same time telling a funny ass story.
  
  The main thrust of the plot concerns an upcoming election in Tabula Ra$a that threatens the very fabric of society. Zoey, being a person of immense influence and status in the city after inheriting her father’s criminal empire, must step outside of her comfort zone (again) to keep a man who is basically a Ron DeSantis stand-in from becoming mayor and turning Tabula Ra$a into a police state. The comparisons to the current Republican party are not even vaguely coded, basically standing in as Pargin’s commentary on the dangers extreme right-wing ideologies pose for any democracy. He doesn’t just poke at the right though, giving the extreme left their licks by asking the question “Okay, you want to be in charge? Create a society that makes sense” and highlighting that with all their bluster, most extreme progressives usually don’t have a realistic answer to the world’s problems either.
  
  Pargin has a lot to say about several different topics, and he makes some interesting points. The problem however lies in the fact that Pargin doesn’t seem to be interested in writing where he can weave these thoughts and opinions in a natural way, instead opting for long rants that take up a big chunk of the page space, forcing his characters to ultimately morph into having the same voice. I wish I was being hyperbolic when saying he monologues a lot, but almost every chapter has at least one long diatribe where Pargin gets out his fully formed thoughts on a topic and puts those words into the mouth of basically any character he happens to be writing for in the moment. Constant monologues lessen their impact and importance, so by the end I felt like I had spent 400 pages being lectured by an old man yelling at a cloud.
  
  It's my biggest gripe and it is a problem, but it’s not so egregious that I can’t forgive Pargin’s lecture circuit. Sure, he will write 1,400 words on how damaging cancel culture is to the fabric of society and it will come off as pretentious, but a paragraph later a character named Pistol Wizard will show up, get tasered, and Pargin will explain in graphic detail how he aggressively shit his pants. It’s a balance, and Pargin is so good at writing ridiculous and inventive prose that I’m willing to give him a break on his lack of brevity.
  
  “Zoey is Too Drunk for This Dystopia” is a lot of fun and is a welcome chapter to Pargin’s sci-fi saga. I don’t know if he’s building to a specific ending or is just taking on the ideas as they come, but I really like the world he has created and I’m always going to be down for another visit to Tabula Ra$a to see what Zoey and her gang do next. Hopefully Pargin learns some restraint and figures out not every thought needs to be a monologue, but even if he doesn’t, I’m going to read his thoughts. He’s a smart guy even if he seems to have trouble wrapping it up.
• 
  Ellama42

  comment: AAAHHH STOP IK KOM ER NET ACHTER DAT DIT DEEL DRIE IS VAN EEN SERIE?????? DIT VERKLAART ZO VEEL HAHAHAHA
  
  Okay so dit boek slayde best wel hard. Ik vond het heel fun om te lezen en ging er vlot doorheen, misschien iets te vlot? Ik hou ervan als een boek snel gaat maar dit boek ging wel echt speedy speedy. Er was niet een seconde van "rust" in het boek en hoewel dat wel paste bij het plot en de sfeer vond ik het een beetje much. You know that I love me some good dystopia so I ate this up!!! Vond het ook heel slay dat het niet de classic dystopia was maar dat ze ook veel aandacht besteedde aan hedendaagse problemen die meer over het hoofd worden gezien; zoals de sex-workers industrie. Af en toe waren er wel opeens random mensen die opdoken (miss lees ik niet goed?) maar overal was het een priem boek 3.2 sterren⭐️
• 
  JASARA HINES

  Thank you NetGalley for this ALC.
  I am going to be honest and state that I have not read either of the previous two books in this series. This book can stand alone, however, the relationships between the main character, Zoey and her team is well established by this third installment and thus may impact some understanding. Who Zoey is, is also very important to know, and that is well detailed in the previous two books.
  
  I really appreciated the level of satire and commentary on human nature in this book. The level of comedy is truly what made this book three stars for me. Otherwise, there were times when there were too many distractions that detered the reader away from the deeper ideas at play in this plot. The idea of a dystopia and how we technically live inside one now, was something worth exploring more while reading this novel.
  
  The audio performance was great. This narrator helped me envision Zoey and her gang.
• 
  Caitlin Holloway

  I love Jason Pargin’s books, especially the Zoey Ashe series, but if I have to read the words “depending on the publication” one more time I will lose my mind.
  
  In all seriousness though, this series feels like a Netflix show that I am more than willing to wait years for the next one to be published because I love it more every episode. Pargin’s world building is incredible and there is such an ease to his narrative tone of voice that each new book feels like returning to old friends. Every character is perfectly flawed in a way that makes it so much more vibrant and the way that Pargin dances with morally grey conversations without ever being hurtful is an art in itself.
• 
  Chad E Spilman

  This is a fantastic science fiction book of a town undergoing an election with multiple other dangers and exciting events and incidents happening simultaneously. Many odd characters participate in these wild action packed adventures. And I hope you love this as much as I did.
  
  P.S. if you are worried about reading it out of order from the series. It's ok, you can read it out of order and not feel like you're missing something. And for more entertainment, follow this author on social media. He is very smart and has a lot of pop culture knowledge.
• 
  Lora

  Zoe is Too Drunk for this Dystopia by Jason Pargin is a dystopian novel following Zoey, the heiress to much of the city of Tabula Rosa. The title and cover grabbed me on this book and I couldn’t wait to dig in. It’s the third in a series and the previous books were referenced, but I didn’t need to have read them to understand what was going on.
  
  Basically, Zoey Ashe recently became the heiress of Tabula Ro$a’s main crime lord and has to learn to navigate that. It’s the eve of a mayoral election where the choice of Zoey’s team is going up against a Trumpesque character who is projected to win. Prostitutes are disappearing and a broadcast of one being horrifically murdered sets off a chain of events culminating in an election day no one will ever forget.
  
  I’m really torn on how I feel about this and I suspect it's because I’m not the book’s target audience. On one hand, I really enjoyed how it poked at current events (I couldn’t believe the author had me rooting for a heiress and her shadowy team!), but on the other, at times it was too real and too painful, especially as a woman. The tone bordered on sanctimonious at times which wasn’t enjoyable to me. I did not enjoy the crude humor aspects and Zoey had some ticks that were downright irritating after awhile, such as always telling people her people were going to be there in a few minutes when they never were.
  
  I listened to the audiobook. Narrator Elizabeth Evans did a fantastic job and I never had trouble knowing who was talking, she nailed a variety of different voices. She paced the story well and overall, improved my experience. I don’t know if I’d have made it through otherwise.
  
  Favorite quote: At the end of the book, Zoey and her team discuss the scene in the bible when Jesus resurrects Lazarus. There’s a whole monologue, but here’s the part that will stick with me: God “may be all powerful, he may be all knowing, but when he came down here to our world, and tried to play our game, he couldn’t hack it. He couldn’t take the thing he saddles us with every day. This death. This losing people. When he came down and tried to play the game he created, the sheer random cruelty of it knocked him flat.”
  
  Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for allowing me to listen to this book as an ARC to review.
• 
  jo firstofhername

  I love the exaggeration of all the situations in dystopian stories. So many funny situations arise in which so many different things are thematised and discussed that are simply always relevant. Also, from the dystopian lens, you can look at the issues more closely and often reflect on your opinion better than you can with current issues because you're often too emotionally involved. And it's just well written and funny and there's even tension, love it.
• 
  Kayla

  My favorite Zoey novel so far, hands down. Let me start this by saying that if you haven't read the first two Zoey novels, what are you waiting for? Strap in and get yourself a copy of 'Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits'. Zoey is one of the most realistic and relatable female characters I've encountered.
  This addition to the series is more that I could've asked for, it gave me emotional whiplash several times, and I mean that as a compliment. I plan to give a longer review after the release.
  
  Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.